Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Russell Gunther: Okay. Great. Thanks Palmer. And then just switching gears, last couple for me from a net charge-off perspective. So just curious on what came out of Balboa with this quarter. Was it just that the $2.3 million that was charged off or was there kind of additional losses there. As a follow-up, I would be curious as a reminder as to what you think from a kind of lifetime loss perspective is for that portfolio?

Jon Edwards: Yes. The losses in the Equipment Finance division actually in the second quarter were almost spot on what they were in the first quarter, which was about $9.9 million, so the $2.3 million was extraordinary, as Palmer mentioned earlier, that it really was a group of nonperforming loans that were 100% reserved at the acquisition date, and we went through collection efforts over that — since that time and decided that, that had kind of run its course and that we decided that those loans — the remaining balance of those loans we charge those off. So they didn’t really impact earnings in that regard. And so the net of that particular extraordinary item would really drive the losses in the second quarter in equipment finance down.

The whole portfolio is somewhat of a barometer of the business cycle. That’s a little bit the reason why we’ve got a little higher amount of charge-off run rate today than we saw last year. But I don’t anticipate that it’s certainly would grow from this point. I think it’s stable to probably trending a little bit lower going forward. So it certainly is well managed. And somewhat anticipated — well, it was anticipated when we did due diligence back 18 months ago that we would bring on additional losses. I guess the opposite side of that, just to be fair about it, is that the going on rate for new business is a little bit sub-13%. So we do have the offset revenue side, which is what is contributing to keeping us above 2% PPNR. So I need to kind of balance the one against the other.

Russell Gunther: Understood. And I appreciate the color there. And then just last one as a follow-up. As you think about the bank as a whole, how are you guys thinking about potential net charge-off range for kind of this year and next?

Palmer Proctor: That’s a great question. And the pre-pandemic normal, I guess, if you try to pull out a bit of normal for us, pre-pandemic was around 19 basis points for the five years or so that preceded the pandemic. And so I think that 18 to 25 basis points is likely to be kind of the normal for us in a normal business environment. So I think that’s sort of what I would look at — is a normalized rate.

Russell Gunther: Okay. Great. That’s it for me guys. Thanks for taking my question.

Nicole Stokes: Thank you.

Operator: Your next question comes from Christopher Marinac with Janney Montgomery Scott. Your line is open.

Christopher Marinac: Thanks. Good morning. I just want to keep on the theme of Balboa. What should the risk-adjusted losses be for that portfolio as we go forward as the charge-offs to modify a little bit as you just said, and then also kind of as loan yields reset for the portfolio?